Snapshots
by ObsidianJade
Summary: 50-Sentences challenge. Hood, Rachel, and Hood/Rachel in fifty captured seconds.


Inspiration comes in the strangest places. I was reading a Bleach fanfiction, of all things, that used the 1-Sentence Challenge from LiveJournal - fifty one-word prompts, write fifty sentences - and decided that I just couldn't pass it up. So, without further ado...

Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly.

SNAPSHOTS

#01 Comfort

"Because it would make me feel better," she snapped at him in exasperation; two days later, Hood put a bullet through the bullseye for the first time.

#02 Kiss

She was asleep in the stiff white hospital bed, and that was the only thing that gave him the courage to press a kiss to her forehead.

#03 Soft

His jackets are wool; they should be rough and scratchy, but when she falls asleep on the plane with her head on his shoulder, she's surprised by how soft the fabric really is.

#04 Pain

"It's my job to get hurt, Hood, so that you don't," she'd informed him, and he'd very calmly replied that seeing her in pain hurt him more than the injury would.

#05 Potatoes

One of their fondest traditions was 'officially' closing a case by going out to eat after they'd solved it; he couldn't count the number of times they'd quietly celebrated over hash-browns.

#06 Rain

She couldn't help but laugh at Hood's soggy scowl; all of her preparedness, and of course they'd gotten stuck out here without an umbrella.

#07 Chocolate

She preferred gummy candies, but certainly didn't object when Hood handed her a box of chocolates out of nowhere one morning; it wasn't until almost a month later that it occurred to her it had been Valentine's Day.

#08 Happiness

When Maggie died, he never expected to feel joy again; he was surprised, therefore, when a quick glance and a conspiratorial smile from Rachel was all it took to make him grin.

#09 Telephone

Glaring at the crutches leaning against the end of the sofa, she waited impatiently for the telephone to ring, knowing Hood would call to tell her about his day.

#10 Ears

It had been part of his wild college days, long since gone, but he was somehow always surprised when he touched his ear and remembered that the piercing had closed.

#11 Name

"Special Agent Young," she'd said, shaking his hand, and that was all; it took him almost a week to learn her first name was Rachel.

#12 Sensual

He'd expected something a little more practical, but pawing through her suitcase as he explains savant syndrome, he was surprised to find that much of her underwear is silk.

#13 Death

It was an elephant in the room, one he came fearfully close to acknowledging with every bomb, every bullet, but somehow, they always skirted the issue, and, miraculously, Rachel always survived.

#14 Sex

No matter how hard they tried to ignore it, the undercurrent was always between them; they both know that they will, eventually, succumb to it, regardless of the cost.

#15 Touch

Every time he touched her, she thought she should bear a mark from it, as though the heat of his skin had branded her.

#16 Weakness

It took him far too long to convince her that leaning on someone else wasn't weakness; it was just sharing strength.

#17 Tears

He cried over the deaths that he couldn't prevent, but the fact that he still had enough soul to do so made Rachel respect him all the more.

#18 Speed

Her driving terrified him sometimes, but never more than when they were on the chase, because that was when she pushed the cars to speeds civilian roads were never intended for.

#19 Wind

He inhaled slowly, testing the air of the town as they headed for their next case; it was a political mess, and all he could smell was corruption.

#20 Freedom

He'd resented the idea of a handler at first, and he'd gone through them as fast as he could until he found one that would give him the freedom to work.

#21 Life

"You're lucky to be alive," he told her, not for the first time, and was surprised when she answered, quite seriously, "So are you."

#22 Jealousy

He'd been talking to the girl for almost an hour, discussing theoretical physics, dark matter, anything that came to mind, until she finally glanced up and chuckled that 'his girlfriend was getting annoyed,' and when Hood looked up, Rachel was glaring at them both.

#23 Hands

The first thing he noticed when he shook her hand were the calluses, rough and unexpected; the second thing he noticed was that she was trying very hard to break his fingers.

#24 Taste

They'd spent so many nights living on take-out and microwaved dinners that he almost forgot how much he loved the taste of fresh salad.

#25 Devotion

"You're lucky you have such a loyal bodyguard," the chief told him, and Hood smiled benignly in response, saying only that Rachel was very devoted to her job.

#26 Forever

"Because she's the one I want. She's the only one I will accept. For as long as I am with the Bureau, I want Special Agent Young as my handler."

#27 Blood

He knew it wasn't true, but she tried to convince him she was invulnerable; it almost worked, until he held her in his arms, watching her lifeblood pulse away.

#28 Sickness

He hated the plastic that separated them; almost wished it would disappear, but he knew he couldn't risk falling ill, not with Rachel's life on the line.

#29 Melody

She wouldn't forget the one time she walked in without knocking, finding him standing by the window in a shaft of sunlight with his head thrown back and his eyes closed, the song humming wordlessly in his throat.

#30 Star

They stood on the balcony of their hotel room, enjoying a respite from the case, and Rachel attentively followed his finger as he pointed out and named every constellation they could see.

#31 Home

Palo Alto had been home, once; but when he went back, he realized that it wasn't home anymore.

#32 Confusion

'_Bodyguard? Her_?' was his first thought, because she was blonde and tiny and cute; two days later, he saw her take down a man three times her size with a couple of well-placed kicks and a right hook, and realized that he was an idiot.

#33 Fear

She would never admit to it, but she was terrified of failing Hood, not because it would mean losing the job that had once meant everything to her, but because it would mean losing the man who now did.

#34 Lightning/Thunder

She still loved to watch the storms, but after witnessing death-by-lightning, she watched them sitting behind a closed window.

#35 Bonds

They were probably one of the best teams in the FBI by their second year together; if mutual respect and admiration weren't the only bonds holding them, well, their superiors politely pretended ignorance.

#36 Market

Watching Rachel shop for food was a little sad; everything was dried or frozen or canned, he realized, and, shaking his head, took the cart from her and headed towards Produce.

#37 Technology

Hood had never loved his phone more than when Rachel was laid up and he was off with a different handler for six months, because talking to her every night was the only thing that kept him sane.

#38 Gift

They'd never given each other gifts before; it was as much because they were celebrating being alive to witness their first Christmas as partners as it was because of Christmas itself.

#39 Smile

She adored the way the he smiled; it made her wonder what kind of man he'd been, before the world dropped so much weight onto his shoulders.

#40 Innocence

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, honestly bewildered, as the drunken girl staggered away; through her laughter, Rachel managed to explain exactly what a 'disco stick' was.

#41 Completion

'_Six months_,' she thought constantly to herself, '_six months and I'm done,_' except by the time six months rolled around, she swore she would never leave.

#42 Clouds

They glanced briefly at the boiling blackness on the horizon before wordlessly turning back to their work, moving as fast as possible in hopes of beating the rain.

#43 Sky

They spent so many hours on so many planes going in so many different directions that some days, he wondered if there was a single piece of U.S. airspace he hadn't already crossed twice.

#44 Heaven

Solving the cases made him feel on top of the world, because it meant he was doing something, being a useful member of society again, and he could see in her smile that she knew just how he felt.

#45 Hell

He burst through the doors, shouting for help as he carried her motionless body in his arms, and at the back of his mind realized that he'd fallen back into his own personal hell, watching the woman he loved slip away.

#46 Sun

Her hair flashed golden, her eyes the same color as the sky as she turned to speak to him; for a moment, he was as blinded as if he'd looked directly into the sun.

#47 Moon

He was a lot like the moon, she realized; serene from a distance, scarred when you looked close, and being in his presence for too long would drive you absolutely nuts.

#48 Waves

She found him sitting on the end of the pier, staring at nothing; silently, she sat down beside him and listened to the music of the waves.

#49 Hair

His hair was a constant source of amusement for her, because it perpetually reflected his mental state.

#50 - Supernova

It came to him in a blinding flash, while he was watching Rachel fight for life in some little hospital, that he loved her.

.


End file.
